In certain molecular biotechnology methods cells are grown in culture media and used to produce desired proteins. The desired protein that is produced may be recovered and used in a variety of industrial and medical applications. For example, the desired protein may be used as a therapeutic protein such as an antibody or an enzyme and used in industrial applications, such as cleaning applications (e.g., laundry detergents), paper-making applications, animal feed applications, baking applications, methods for starch hydrolysis and other methods that require large amounts of a particular enzyme.
Producing large amounts of protein using recombinant cells or non-recombinant cells, frequently requires that cells be cultured in a medium containing a carbon source, a nitrogen source, and other nutrients e.g., amino acids, vitamins, minerals, etc., required for growth of those cells. Many cell cultures incorporate glucose or a combination of glucose and other substrates as a carbon source in the cell culture or as a substrate feed in the cell culture.
This invention relates to an alternative carbon source for use in cell cultures. The inventors herein have discovered that the addition of raw glycerol to a nutrient media either as the sole carbon source or in combination with other sugars (e.g., glucose) may be used as a carbon source for the production of desired proteins by cells grown in the cultures. The use of raw glycerol in the culture of cells would be of great commercial benefit.